What the worshiper thought, saw and heard 20-some years ago at mass in the church of his choice, Roman Catholic as it happens . . .

A few decades ago, some memories came crashing through for the worshiper of advanced years . . .

TO INTERRUPT HIM . . . Ssuch as recalling his days as a mass server in the early ‘40s. Various catastrophes. Leakages and excretions. Losing his suppper of the night before at an early weekday mass or sneezing messily without access to handkerchief at solemn high mass on a Sunday.

The catastrophic sneezing spotted by one of the three priests sitting across the sanctuary from servers while choir poured forth its premeditated strains from the loft and later incense burned and bells rang and all heaven broke loose.

In his case more than that broke loose, as nasal passages poured forth unpremeditated material. A hand went up and came back requiring immediate attention. There was the cassock sleeve, hardly an option. There was more on hand or in it than the average cassock sleeve would accommodate.

A blessed inability to recall descends. All that remained was the priest across the sanctuary, who knew and felt the server’s pain but could not hold back the beginning of a small grin.

FEELING GOOD WITH JESUS . . . The pastor discussed "what Mass is all about" in the parish bulletin, namely our coming "with full hearts to thank God." Moreover, it is "truly alive . . . when we bring to Mass the everyday things of our lives."

Some of his best mass-time experience, he confessed, had been when he was "truly bringing what was in [his] heart to God." The time-honored phrase "sacrifice of the mass," he said "refers to our self-offering to God." Oh!

This self-offering "feels good," he said, because it reminds him that "God is taking care of" his various problems.

But there is nothing in what he said about Jesus' sacrifice on the cross and its redeeming value or its being re-enacted in the mass, whatever we bring. He speaks only about what we bring. Apart from his belief in God as protector, it's as if there were no Christian tradition.

If you are wondering what there is about liturgy that reminds you of Rotary Club meetings, picnics, and other gatherings that make you feel good, consider this foray into theology by one of our coming pastors, who was doing a good job and was probably as theologically literate as most.

MUSCULAR CHRISTIANITY . . . At Father's Day mass on a Sunday decades ago, a young man ahead of the worshiper in line for Communion shuffled up in expensive white sneakers, baggy white pants, and abbreviated tank top.

Earlier, there had been quite a handshaking of peace, with free-lancers going up and down the aisle to press flesh of any reluctant worshipers. Among aisle-walkers was the parish deacon, vigorously working the crowd as if running for office, which he should, since he's such a nice guy.

The sermon had been by a tall, dark-haired, white-suited layman who talked about what Mary would have told Jesus after he was found in the Temple at age 12 instructing some white-hairs: Don't get a big head, etc.

He got a hand when he finished, which is of course more than the pastor and his helpers get, but then he had done it more crisply, reading from his text, which is of course a good idea for the reverend fathers too. A good discipline.

ON ANOTHER SUNDAY OFF TO ILLEGAL LATIN MASS . . . Where reverence was palpable, vs. happy-go-lucky mainstream Catholic service, too often starring priest as Jay Leno, full of smiles because we're happy to be alive.

This one was all business. People came to pray not play, not to meet and greet except after mass, when there was lots of that.

It was low mass, in an ex-Presbyterian church converted by hammer and nail, two-thirds full, families and others, a young man as server, priest with back to worshipers, everybody looking towards God.

LABORING AWAY . . . The Labor Day weekend sermon was from a representative of an affiliated church, the Chicago Federation of Labor.

It was about corporate greed, justice in the work place, Andrew Carnegie’s hiring half his employees to shoot the other half, enormous wealth for the few, heightened productivity lining pockets of corporation and executives, families needing three jobs to stay afloat, no time for the children, restructuring, downsizing, outsourcing ("Look what’s going on!"), disillusionment experienced by today’s workers, all done in 10 minutes, followed by applause from the early-mass half-filled church and group recitation of the Nicene Creed, "I believe in God the father of unions . . ." (Just kidding.)

Not kidding otherwise. The speaker was secretary-treasurer of the CFL, where he had worked for eight years. Invoking our protect-the-guilty policy, let’s call him Abe.

Abe cited "Jesuit tradition" and several popes for Catholic support of unions. Growing up as he did, he "could not imagine" either family, church, or union "without the other two." Unions need the church, he said. "Unions and churches can’t go it alone," he said --remarkably, in view of the long history of the Christian Church pre-dating unions.

"We need help in bargaining," he said, but to his credit gave out neither telephone number nor email address. "We must work together to combat corporate greed."

He was labor coordinator for the 1996 Democratic National Convention and coordinator for organized labor for the Illinois Democratic gubernatorial candidate in 1994 and 1998, the CFL web site tells us.

He thanked the pastor and pastor emeritus, who said the mass the worshiper attended, for welcoming him -- to give us his labor-union speech.

He followed the celebrant, who in his brief sermon explained (away) Jesus’ "If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother . . . he cannot be my disciple" from the day’s gospel (Luke 14. 25-33) as a "Jewish" manner of speaking, meaning standard ancient Middle Eastern exaggeration to make a point.

Abe went to Loyola U. and finds in politics "a passion and personal calling," the CFL site tells us. He’s well versed in organized-labor talking points, is or has been a Democratic party operative, and was happy, the worshiper assumed, to have this congregation for an audience, probably at all three weekend masses.

Which ends our brief tour of one worshiper’s experience and hope you liked it and will be here for the next one. Soon.